Image
Design of large-scale mechanized cassava production for a starch factory
The client is a French incorporated company led by a team of international experts with an extensive knowledge of Africa and, more precisely, Ivory Coast. However, the team was lacking the necessary high-end agronomic support and relevant realistic approaches to their project’s development aligned to the capacity of their available land and the activities of the planned cassava production scheme.
Design of large-scale mechanized cassava production for a starch factory
Location
Ivory Coast
Production
Cassava
Delivery
2017
Area
4 500 ha
Client
Satol
Sector
Private
Service(s)
Agri-feasibility study
The challenge
The client required a thorough assessment of the allocated land and a comprehensive feasibility study of the farming project to unlock initial FASEP and support the fund-raising process.
The result
Within the framework of this project, Expert Farmer has provided three elements of support including preliminary land appraisal, assessment of the project’s feasibility and client support to attract new investors and start the project with pioneer crops.
Brief of the project
Preliminary remote assessment
- Collection of site data and satellite remote-sensing for the given project area.
- Identification of high potential and risk zones,
- Spatial and topographic analysis and preliminary surface ratios,
- Analysis of available project data.
On-site assessment
- Analysis and ranking of the areas targeted for farm development,
- Assessment of the project’s environment for water and power supply availability, infrastructure and access towards/from the main economic centre of the area,
- Understanding of the land’s history and tenure,
- Rough social impact assessment, organization of meetings with the local villages’ representatives and potential out-growers,
- Identification and review of the main potential partners (national institutions, cassava specialists),
- Validation of the main technical assumptions needed for the project’s development,
- Recommendations on all main strategies for the project’s development,
- Collection of economic data,
- High resolution drone mapping of the entire farmland.
Reporting
- Final estimate of the total cultivable area based on natural conditions,
- Required products’ shortlist adapted to the site’s parameters,
- Project feasibility and area cultivated with initial investment, operational efficiency, durability, consumption of resources,
- Logistical organisation for a smooth supply to the starch factory located next to the fields,
- Sustainability of the project and integration into its environment,
- Macro-environment report and scoring matrix,
- Comprehensive economic and financial analysis of the project,
- Project development strategy and project phasing.